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**pro-fusion** · 03-24-2004, 05:28 PM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

Some guy posted a .pdf of the manual on his web site a few weeks ago in response to a request in another forum. I had an Ultra for a few weeks but didn't really care for it that much. Here's the link to the manual:

http://www.oli-toscani.de/ProGapUltra.pdf

Biggest hint I can give--for a good metal sound, lower the low-end pre-EQ level to "-1", and crank the midrange pre-EQ level to about "12", while testing out which mid frequency works best with your setup. I found that a low-mid boost worked well for some setups, while a high-mid boost was often better for rhythm playing, oddly enough. The pre-EQ shapes the sound before it goes into the gain stage, and this is necessary to eliminate a lot of the low-end mushiness that this unit can have (and which it shares with the original Chameleon), and also to get enough gain for metal purposes. The Ultra does not have as much gain as the Chameleon, so the mid-range pre-EQ boost is critical for this, since it drives the gain section harder.

You will probably want to compensate for reducing the lows at the pre-EQ stage by moving them up in the post-gain EQ stage.

**Fragle** · 03-25-2004, 10:42 AM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

well, first of all: thank you [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

i already noticed the quite loose low end...i'll try lowering the pre bass.
well...i think this thing has almost too much gain. i hardly turn it up to 70 [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] maybe because i'm more into the 80's distortion levels than the over the top saturated death metal sounds [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

another question: i dont really know how to work with the variac and rectifier parameters. at the moment i turn the variac to zero because if i turn it up to about 40 it starts to get very muddy - sometimes already at 20. maybe i should lower the gain to about 40-50 and increase the variac level? the manual says that if you use tube rectifiers you are able to get way more dynamic sounds than with the ss rectifier. but i personally think that the tube rectifiers muddy things up quite bad.
maybe someone can give me advice how to work with those paremeters?

greets
fragle

**Ebbflow** · 03-25-2004, 12:18 PM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

Yes you must be careful with the gain on the Progap units. A little goes a long way. I've never used the Ultra model. How are the cleans on that one? I found the cleans, on the original, were not that impresive and the distortions had a little to much bite.

**pro-fusion** · 03-25-2004, 02:02 PM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

Also, I didn't think the speaker simulator on the Ultra was very impressive. Fragle, since you do direct recording, you might think about getting a used Chameleon (blackface or OnLine versions), instead of the Ultra. The same basic sound, but higher in quality, and with killer effects and a really good speaker simulator built in.

I use the later Chameleon 2000, but I find that doesn't work as well on its own for direct recording as the original Chameleon did. I use my Cham 2000 together with an ADA Ampulator speaker cab/power amp simulator, and get great sounds, but that's not a cheap setup, and it's tough to find Ampulators now, since ADA went out of business years ago.

**Fragle** · 03-26-2004, 01:49 AM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

the cleans lack headroom, thats for sure....but you can balance it out by increasing the overall volume and lowering the volume for of your distorted patches.

the distortion sounds have lots of bite, but i'm not really a fan of that totally smooth sound (exept for leads, maybe) so i dont care that much.

but keep in mind, at the moment i'm running it direct through my pc....shitty on board soundcard and only mediocre speakers, so i dont expect that much. i think i will buy a 412 and a poweramp (i played the behringer 412 and kinda liked it.....it seemed to be pretty warm so it should be a good match with the pro gap...balances the bite a bit out)......but not sure which poweramp. considering that i dont play in bands i thought of the rocktron velocity 120 or something in that range. solid state, i know, and i'm still not sure if i should wait until i get a nice marshall poweramp for a good price (didnt like peavey that much, engl is too expensive even here in germany and mesa is simply not of this planet....20:20 poweramp = 1100€ .....insane)

greets
fragle

**pro-fusion** · 03-26-2004, 01:57 AM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

Personally, I preferred using a high variac setting and backing off from the gain in response--gets a bigger sound that way. I do this on my Chameleon 2000, as well. For some reason, a low variac setting made the Ultra seem thin and harsh sounding, regardless of the amount of gain. I think you'll find that lowering the bottom-end pre-EQ will fix the muddiness, almost no matter what gain or variac setting you use.

I didn't play around with the rectifier control on the Ultra that much, but I almost always used the solid-state rectifier setting, since (as you indicate) it created a much clearer sound.

As far as the amount of gain goes, try rolling all of the pre-EQ settings back to zero and then tell me whether you think it has a lot of gain. Without a pre-EQ boost, I could go to 90 or 95 on the gain and still not seem to get very much of it. But setting the mid pre-EQ level really high converts the Ultra into more of a gain monster. But still not as much so as the original blackface Chameleon--on that sucker, going much above 50 on the gain turns everything to mud.

**Fragle** · 03-26-2004, 07:42 AM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

i dont do direct recording [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] before i bought the pro gap i have been using the peavey rage 158 and a boss mt2 [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] needless to say that i wanted to get a better sound, and once i saw the pro gap pretty cheap on ebay i went for it. i'm just using it direct because i dont own a power amp and cab yet ^^

if i would know which poweramp suits my needs i would buy one and a cab pretty fast, but i dont know it [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] its quite shitty....i dont play in bands at the moment so i dont need much power, but i never liked solid state poweramps. i know i can get a rocktron velocity quite cheap off ebay, but well...its solid state, and tube is simply better [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

to answer the gain question: well....variac 100, pre mid zero, gain 100 -> not very much gain. depending on the post eq its more classic metal than heavy stuff, but turning the variac to 50 helps it quite a lot - but still not enough gain for really chunky palm mutes (gain still 100). my only problem is that if i set the pre eq to about 13 i becomes very marshally sounding, but the pm's become quite good. it just seems that in order to get high gain sound you have to deal with that marshall flavour...so no scooped death tones for this one. or am i wrong?

greets
fragle

**pro-fusion** · 03-26-2004, 09:21 AM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

I think you can get pretty good scooped metal out of it by turning down the low-end pre-eq and radically lowering the post-eq mids at about 800-1000mhz, regardless of what you set the pre-EQ mids at. It seems to me that the pre-EQ mids provide mostly gain, but still allow you to scoop out the mids after the gain stage. But I did find the Ultra very difficult to fine-tune that way, and I never really did find the sounds I was looking for, which is why I sold it. Even if you aren't direct recording, you still might consider upgrading to a Chameleon at some point--really a lot better sounding, in my opinion.

As far as power amps go, I think it would be almost mandatory to run a tube power amp with the Ultra, or with a Chameleon, in order to provide a less harsh sound.

**Fragle** · 03-27-2004, 01:09 AM

Re: rocktron pro gap ultra

well, thanks guys. it starts to sound good [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] i'm kinda surprised because i just stored a patch that sounds VERY reminiscent of vader-revelations....which is pretty nice because thats one of my favourite metal tones [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

i think i will continue searching ebay for a used marshall 20:20 or peavey classic 20:20 or even 50:50 (but that should be too much power [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ). i think i will be much happier if i go this way and not buy a used solid state rocktron velocity.

greets and thanks
fragle

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